Method of making artificial micas.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FLORENTINE J. MAOHALSKEOF NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO RALPH MODJESKI, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

METHOD or name ARTIFICIAL moAs.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 28, 1908.

Application filed November 21, 1907. Serial No. 408,288.

To all cvhom. it may concern.

Be it known that I, FLORENTINE J.

' MAOHALSKE, a citizen of the United States,

chemical and mlneralogical characteristics of residing at Niagara Falls, inthe county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Im rove-- ments in Method of Making Artificial lic'as,

of wlnchthe following is a s ecification.

This invention relates to t e production of materials having most or all of the physical,

the several minerals commonly referred to as the Mica Group or Division, and hence referred to herein as artificial micas; and the object of the invention is to provide a method of making artificial micas in a form an electric. whose seconda not m urious to the product, and preferably 4 secondary con, or in case 'an iron-mica is to be pre-' applicablefor use in the arts.

have discovered that by smelting a suitable charge in an electric furnace, prefer-. ably under conditions avoiding the contamination of the'product or the reduction of the constituents of the'charge by contact with carbon, I am able to obtain products havi the valuable characteristics of the severa native micas, but su erior to these in certain respects. The art' and they are found to possess a higher electrical resistance than-the natural product.

By a-proper choice of the ingredients and produced having the essenti characteristics of the several native micas.. The invention Wlll be described by reference. to particular exam les thereof, it being understood how ever t at the invention is not restricted '-to the. speclfic charge indgredients stated or to the; proportions nanlile h d I 1 11 ca out t emet 0 ma employ f Lu-nace of the induction type, consists of a metal which is of a metal entering into the com osition of the product, appro mater meta being ummum, magnesium,

pared, iron. Continuous metallic .second'ar es may be employed, the charge being modialkalies (KOH or NaOH) are then added of the. product is derived from the alkali I cial micas maybe produced free from iron as their constitutlon 1s under the control of the operator;

0 produced;

for the.

fied to compensate for the metal passing into the roduct; or the metal maybe incorporated wit 1 a properly proportioned charge to give it a proper conductivity.

Instead of using an induction furnace as described I may em loy an electric furnace of any usual-type, aving electrodes of a metal which is not in'urious-to the product, silicon being preferably employed.

In either case conditions are provided under which the product can absorb the necessary water of crystallization. Thls result ma be secured by the following manipulation: All materials entering into the composition of the product with the ex-\ ceptio'n of the caustic alkalies are smeltedtogether, and to the molten mass the caustic and fully incorporated or dissolved. 'The molten mass is then preferably discharged from the furnace and is permitted to cool slowly in .an atmosphere char ed with moisture. The water entering into t e constitution metal hydrate and fromthe moisture of. the atmosphere. Other methods of incorporatin the necessar water may be adopted.

xam le 1. y melting lIl'fiIl electric-fun nace of t e induction type a mixture containing 45.5 parts of pure sea-sand, 12 parts of bauxite, and 30.5 parts of burned magnesia, adding to the fully melted charge 14 parts of 90% caustic potash,- and cooling in presence of a suflicient roportion of water vaporya mica having -t e following composition is 44.2 'A1,6,--.-------- 10.8 p 29.4 K,O i- 9.9 1 H,O (by difference); 5.7

nace provided with silicon electrodes a mixture containing 46.5 arts of pure white sand, 9, 40 parts bauxite an 16.5 parts of 90zycaus-r tic potash, a suitable proportion of moisture the composition;

SiO 45.2 A1 0, 38.5 K,O is 11.8 H O (by diiference)- 4.5

The current conditions may be as in Example 1.

I claim:

1. The method of making artificial micas which consists in melting in anelectri'c furnace a charge proportioned to yield a mica. 2. The method of making artificial micas which consists in melting in an electric furnace and out of contact with carbon surfaces, a char e proportioned to ield amica.

3. T e method of making artificial micas which consists in'melting in an electric furnace in presence of metallic silicon serving as an electrical conductor,.a charge proportioned' to yield a mica.

4. The method of making artificial micas which consists in melting a suitable charge containing the non-alkali ingredients of a mica, incorporating an alkali-metal hydroxid with the melted mass, and permitting the product to cool. v

5. The method of making artificial micas which consists in melting a suitable-charge containing the non-alkali ingredients of a mica, incorporating an alkali-metal hydroxid with the melted mass, and permitting the product to cool in presence-of moisture.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FLORENTINE J. MACHALSKE. Witnesses:

EDW. RICHARDS, Orro E. BEHRENSMEYER; 

